A fire at a garment factory on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, has killed at least 10 people.

Fire services were still trying to bring the blaze under control in the four-storey dyeing mill in Gazipur late on Tuesday night, but Abdul Baten, the local police superintendent, said 10 deaths had been confirmed by midnight. Scores more are believed to have been injured and it is feared the death toll could rise.

"Four buildings caught fire so you can imagine the scale of it," said Akhter-uz-Zaman, deputy assistant director of the Gazipur fire service. "We have been able to rescue four dead bodies. The fire is 80% under control now."

The blaze will increase pressure on western garment manufacturers and local authorities in Bangladesh to improve working conditions in the poor and politically unstable south Asian country. Jason Burke Delhi